Lord Inquisitor Romanos
by ShadyDeadMan
Summary: Inquisitor Romanos is tasked with uncovering the source of heretical fervour sweeping the ice world of Valkyrie XVIII. His findings lead him to the discovery of a much larger plot that could affect the entire star system if it is not stopped.


_Witch Hunter_

_Chapter 1_

_999. M41, Valkyrie XVIII (Loki), Ragnos Star System, Segmentum Solar_

_Beyond the vast and ultra religiously devout cathedral hive cities of Valkyrie Prime, beyond the essential resource rich inner core worlds of the Ragnos Star System and beyond the imperial guard outposts and imperial naval shipyards of the outer worlds lay the almost forgotten ice world of Loki festering in vile and chaotic secrecy. The drab fortress like hab-cities of the frozen and mountainous wasteland were far removed from the stifling control of the numerous cathedral cities that ruled over the populations of the Ragnos worlds with a mighty and wrathful imperial holy fist. _

_Even the feared reach of the Ordo Hereticus and Adepta Sororitas did not extend to the people of Loki. They had long since left the troublesome world to fend for itself once the precious ore mines had been depleted. Many left the ice world for the more prosperous and welcoming inner core worlds. This left a haven for those who were unwelcome or unwilling to live under the strict and ever watchful eye of the Imperium._

_Unlike the rest of the worlds of the Ragnos star system, Loki had become a lawless world of pirates, mercenaries, criminals and outcasts, deviants and heretics, and perhaps more worryingly, it had become the breeding ground for mutants, witches and rogue psykers. While some would think the world should have been cleansed long ago. The ruling elite of the Ragnos System and their masters on Terra had allowed the false impression that the world was beyond their interest. _

_In truth they had allowed the world's continued existence to attract the trash and scum of the star system to one easily watched world where the black ships could be called upon to purge the world of heretics or the imperial fleet could be called upon to deliver the final killing blow via orbital bombardment as the inquisition declares Exterminatus on the irredeemable offending world. Only now with the emergence of the traitorous and heretical cult The Enlightened Followers of Eternal Light has the Imperium decided to act. _

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_Day 1_

_High Lord Governor Raxus Democleus IV studied himself lovingly in the full length mirrors that seemed to cover every angle of the bedchamber. He stood issuing scathing orders and venomous threats to a multitude of scurrying and terrified servants as they preened the planet's ruler to perfection. Governor Raxus ran his hands over the soft black and crimson silk of his robes of office. 'Grand finery for the finest of nobles,' he thought as he admired himself in a series of ridiculous poses that only he could fathom the need for. _

_A swift back handed slap sent a young servant girl to her knees sobbing and begging for forgiveness after the comb she had been using to comb his air scraped his scalp. All those around the room stopped momentarily, suddenly aware of their own vulnerability around the mad governor, and unsure of what they should do as his rage boiled over. _

_He stared in amused anger at the girl as she pleaded for forgiveness, he drew back his boot aiming at her body with exaggerated poise emphasising the great wrong that had been inflicted upon him as he gestured towards his injured scalp. Tears welled in the girl's eyes as he seemed to consider his action, much to her relief he lowered his foot. His expression seemed to turn from one of anger to that of curiosity. He grabbed the girl by her long blonde locks of hair, forcing her to her feet as she fought back the pain and tried to prevent herself from crying out. _

_At any other time he would have been only to happy to devise a fitting punishment, but he had little time to waste on the girl as the time of his guests' arrival quickly approached. Without as much as a word he let her go and simply waved her away along with his other servants. Although he would certainly not forget this, but there would be more appropriate times to sate his needs._

_He was soon to meet a delegation of the Achilean Cartel. They were a prosperous collection of extremely wealthy noble and merchant families that kept him in the luxurious manner to which he had become accustomed. Their generous donations to the governor ensured they had little to trouble their various business enterprises, whether they happened to be legal or not. In truth he grew weary of them. While they were necessary for his continued position as planetary governor, they were also notoriously demanding and tiresome. But still he would enjoy the extravagance and opulence of the reception he had laid on for their arrival. The nobility would attend in their hundreds, the wealthy in equal numbers, all seeking the favour of the notoriously corrupt guests from whom many would trade in all manner of illegal goods._

_The governor surrounded himself with an ever growing number of lackeys and sycophants. Among them were the vast majority of the idle and pampered noble and wealthy elite of Loki. At his whim he controlled an army of servants to do his bidding and a large force of governmental honour guard with which to hold on to his position in the ever increasingly hostile environment of the frozen world. _

_In truth he was a weak and deluded fool, prone to psychotic outbursts and whom many thought was losing his grip on reality and had shown signs of increasing insanity. He was a man who only kept his hold on power due to the ease with which he could be manipulated by the various cartels and ruling nobility. The position of governor having long since lost its power with the departure of the imperial forces was now simply a diplomatic title that owed its continued existence to the highest bidders. _

_He was merely a figurehead and go between for the factions vying for power. He was certainly an excellent diplomat who had somehow managed to keep the peace from degenerating into open warfare between the factions who would take control of the planet for themselves. But beyond that he was known for his great and wasteful excesses, for his vile appetites and a whimsical cruelty that seemed to have a few boundaries. _

_He thought himself a noble warrior and hunter, indeed the only thing he had ever hunted were those unfortunate individuals who found themselves the object of his wrath. Most would be simply servants and slaves provided by the slave trading cartels for the 'Great Hunt', a vicious and bloody game in which the nobles of Loki would hunt down the runaway slaves and either slaughter them or enslave them. Though he had killed hundreds of men, none had been armed or given the chance to defend themselves. He was in all respects a snivelling coward. He was a brash, brazen and pompous man who sought only to further his own standing and feed his ever growing ego and degenerate appetites._

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_Within moments of his leaving his bedchamber alarms rang throughout the governor's estate. He was surrounded immediately by a contingent of twenty honour guard. The governor turned to his security advisor with the intention of asking what all the commotion was about. He was soon cut short as several blasts tore through the lower levels perimeter walls surrounding the estate. _

"_The outer defences are breached, governor general. We must escort you to the bunker until this situation has been resolved."_

"_Of course, I trust this will be taken care of quickly. The Achilean Cartel delegation arrives within the hour, these damned cultist terrorists are to be dealt with swiftly. Any prisoners are to be interrogated, tortured and prepared for the Hunt." The governor seemed to demand, perhaps not grasping the severity of the situation._

"_This is an all out assault, governor general. Our perimeter squads report hundreds, perhaps thousands of cultists massing to assault the government sector."_

"_I care little for excuses, commander …" The governor began, only to be stopped mid sentence. He thought little as the young blonde haired girl approached the ring of security surrounding him. Before anyone noticed the needle pistol drop into her right hand from the jacket she was now wearing, she had fired off a volley of poisonous darts and then began running towards the governor. _

_Autoguns were raised by the astonished security team as they tried desperately to protect the governor. The governor fell to his knees, two of the darts puncturing his chest and neck, the fast working toxins pumping into his writhing body as he screamed in agony. Two more darts found their targets as two of the security team directly in front of the governor were dropped with the lethal dose of poison quickly entering their blood and rendering them immobile. _

_The girl simply shouted a cry of defiance as the autoguns opened up shredding her body, the security team didn't notice until it was too late the detonator in her hand and the explosive charges strapped to her chest and waist. The explosion tore through the upper levels of the governor's estate, incinerating everything within a hundred metre radius._

_Throughout the government sector the massed ranks of the secretive order known as The Enlightened Followers of Eternal Light rejoiced as word of the governor's demise filtered quickly throughout the hab-city. With devout fervour and unquestionable loyalty to the mistress of eternal light the cultists attacked as one. Hundreds were martyred in the opening minutes of the city wide assault, suicide bombings raged in an unstoppable frenzy as the mistress's worshippers gave their life in her name. _

_The nobility soon found themselves fighting a defensive battle as once loyal units of honour guard infiltrated by agents of the cult turned against their former hated masters. _

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"_It has begun Lord Inquisitor. We have received word of the heretic's insurrection." The familiar voice of Captain Reno Saresh could be heard clearly over the vox-caster. _

_Inquisitor Ivanov Tharius Romanos of the Ordo Hereticus sat up lazily, suddenly distracted by the captain's words. He smiled as the arm around his waist tightened and the warm inviting body of the bounty hunter Ashani Tyrelle pressed against him, seemingly unwilling to let him go._

_The Obsidian Executioner slipped silently through space, its journey from Valkyrie Prime to the ice world of Valkyrie XVIII almost at an end. The privateer light cruiser was the prize possession of Captain Reno Saresh. At one time he was a smuggler, pirate and mercenary. Given the chance to redeem himself by the unorthodox Inquisitor Romanos, the captain gladly complied and soon found himself among the personal retinue of one of the inquisitors of the Ordo Hereticus. Beyond the ships two hundred strong crew and the contingent of fifty inquisitorial storm troopers, the inquisitor had assembled a motley crew of eccentric but highly capable individuals with whom he would grow to entrust his life to. _

_His most trusted and perhaps loved companion and follower was the notorious and uncompromising bounty hunter Ashani Tyrelle. She was once a member of the elite Special Forces on the besieged world of Cadia. During a purge of corrupted guardsmen in which Inquisitor Romanos was the senior inquisitor, he was saved from certain death by the efforts of Ashani's unit. Soon after the inquisitor requested the unit's assistance to eliminate the source of the threat and they have served the inquisitor since that time. While their role has changed to that of bounty hunters and inquisitorial assassins, their goal is still one of defending the Imperium from corrupt and heretical forces that would deny the will of the golden throne of Terra._

"_We must prepare, Ashani. Our work begins soon."_

"_We have hours before we make planetfall Ivan. Can we not enjoy what little time we have to spare before we arrive on that vile corrupted world."_

"_As much as I would like to remain here, Ashani, I cannot neglect my duties. The sooner we begin preparations to cleanse this world of these heretical heathens the sooner we can return to Valkyrie Prime."_

"_What of the Achilean Cartel's vessel? Is it within boarding range?" Ashani asked as she recalled their plan to gain access to the troubled world of Loki._

"_Captain Saresh, have we located the Achilean vessel?" _

"_We have closed to within a hundred thousand kilometres, lord inquisitor. The assault teams await your arrival on the boarding pod deck. We remain on alert and await your order to engage, lord inquisitor."_

"_Quickly, Ashani. Prepare your team. There is no more time to waste." The inquisitor requested as the bounty hunter rose from her bed._

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_Captain Eriana Castellan of the Pride of Achilea wiped away the trickle of sweat that ran down her brow as the vessel appeared on the radar. She was nervous enough at having to return to Loki. She was ever vigilant and aware of the contraband that her vessel was tasked with transporting under the vigilant gaze of the inquisition and trying to remain one step ahead of their patrols. This new threat was not something she had been warned of. _

_The heavy transport was certainly no match for the speed of an imperial light cruiser, if indeed the vessel belonged to the Imperium. She was unsure of what she preferred. The Imperial navy were likely to arrest and detain them, pirates were likely to be less forgiving, the inquisition were likely to interrogate and torture them for what they would find aboard the Cartel's ship._

"_We are being ordered to prepare for boarding, Captain Castellan. By imperial edict of the Ordo Hereticus. If we decline they threaten to disable us and assault the ship."_

_The ship had closed to within fifty thousand kilometres and continued its approach, readying its main laser batteries._

"_We cannot outrun them, if we fire on them, they will have no problem destroying the ship. We have no choice but to comply." _

_The captain turned in time to see Count Zarovich approach the bridge, heading straight towards her. "Where are the escorts we were promised? I will have that dull witted fool's head for this."_

"_There has been no communication from Loki for over an hour, Count Zarovich."_

"_Can you do nothing to deal with these troublesome imperial lackeys?"_

"_I'm open to suggestions, Count Zarovich."_

"_I warned them this would happen if we entrusted our safe passage to that moronic imbecile governor."_

"_They are warning us to shut down our engines, lower our shields and prepare for boarding. What shall we do captain?"_

"_Count Zarovich?"_

"_Surely they can be reasoned with, everyone has their price, do they not?" The count suggested naively._

"_It is an inquisition vessel, Count. They can't be bought."_

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_Inquisitor Romanos stood beside the captain, the taller man seemingly eager to engage the cartel's vessel. _

"_Disappointing, lord inquisitor. They are complying."_

"_Have the assault teams ready to board. Any sign of deception do not hesitate to disable them, captain. I will join Ashani's team at the boarding pods."_

"_Wait, lord inquisitor. I have signs of two destroyers approaching the transport vessel. They are ignoring our communications."_

"_Prepare to engage, captain."_

"_The transport is moving away, lord inquisitor. The destroyers aren't targeting us, lord inquisitor. They are on a direct course to engage the transport."_

"_I can only think that the vessels are compromised, captain. It is likely the heretics have infiltrated the planet's defence forces. I can only assume they also have control of its navy. Can we stop them before they engage, captain?"_

_His questions were answered moments later when the transport's raised shields were lit up with barrages of laser and missile fire from the two destroyers. _

"_They are heading straight for the ship, lord inquisitor. I believe they intend to ram it."_

"_What is so important that they would sacrifice themselves to prevent us from boarding that ship, captain? Bring us within range and let us see if we can stop them before there is nothing left."_

_Moments later the Obsidian Executioner engaged the closest of the two destroyers, its main batteries quickly punching through the defences of the smaller vessel. The transport's own gun batteries followed soon after, cutting into the already damaged ship. Multiple explosion tore through the stricken vessel as it tried hopelessly to ram the transport ship. _


End file.
